The guest speaker explains the appeal of being unreachable and using a plain text editor, like Vim, which allows their website to withstand the test of time for hundreds of years.
Computer scientist Sebastian Seung compares the different ways one can write code to the styles of writing essays, highlighting the importance of clean, parsimonious code for programming beginners. He also discusses how asking the right questions and understanding the context is key to a successful interview.
The host discusses the challenges of programming episodes during the pandemic and how the absence of hair and makeup affected the show's format.
The ability to produce elegant and beautiful code in high-level programming languages correlates with being a clear thinker and writer. There are patterns and principles such as low coupling and high cohesion that describe how to make good code and concepts like the composed method that breaks down code to keep everything on the same level of abstraction.
Many programmers worry too much about optimizing efficiency in the wrong places and at the wrong times. The assumption that the computer will struggle with the parts that are hardest for the programmer to write is faulty.
The speaker talks about how a programmer retreated to the woods in the UK to write essays while living with his family. They also mention that a third of the memberships were given to artists and non-rich and famous people.
